It is absolutely atrocious how long I have taken to write this up... considering I went to Sketch sometime in March 2005! Rest assured I am suitably contrite.But better late than never. So here's what I remember of my lunch at Sketch. The restaurant has quite a reputation - one, for it's ability to bankrupt for dinners - it is opened by the legend Pierre Gagnaire after all; and two, for its Swarovski crystal loos.The good news is though, you can experience it all at the bargain price of 35 quid for lunch. Long live London and prix fixe lunches!
Food is competent and the thought has clearly been put into the decor, ensuring that its patrons know that they are leading the good life - think Dolce and Gabbana opulence = something out of *Wallpaper. In short, utterly enjoyable, especially when you think of how dinner at Pierre Gagnaire in Paris will set you back 190 euros +++ and prix fixe lunch 90 euros... I'd say it's worth visiting once, but only after you've done all my other favourites in London such as Gordon Ramsay (Royal Hospital Road please), The Ivy, The Electric Brasserie, Racine, Tom Aikens, Hakkasan etc.
Based on just lunch, this is one more for those living in London rather than visitors (time is way too precious). Of course, I haven't had the degustation menu (which is obviously only the real fair way of testing out a restaurant since it give the chef a chance to really impress) so I guess I'll be back when I'm next in London to pass more critical judgment on the food. And of course there's my hazy memory from time elapsed.
Desserts here are fancy (see picture above) but if u decide you can't have lunch, there's always the Parlour downstairs with all those desserts. Have to say it's a bit hit and miss though, the prettiest things were often marred by a hand too free with the sugar or by simply focusing too much on looks rather than taste (e.g. the macarons were too hard). So I suggest sticking with the safe conventional stuff like eclairs and the praline stuff...
Location is a plus too - the perfect chi-chi place to relax and gossip after hard shopping on Bond Street and to be pampered by the very friendly and attentive crew.
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Sketch: Lecture Room and Library
9 Conduit Street, LondonW1S 2XG
+44 (0)870 777 4488
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¶ 11:10 AM 0 comments
Smoked Applewood Cheeseburger with tomato, chorizo & chilli relish and chips
The Electric Brasserie, home of the West London "cool" crowd and located right next to the brilliant Electric cinema - together they make the perfect way to impress a date without appearing to try too hard (eg by bringing her to some really posh restaurant).
The Crisp Pork Belly is extremely satisfying, as are the burgers, and the Barbary Duck Salad is one of the best salads I've had in London. This is upgraded comfort food in casual but hip surroundings and with lots of beautiful people to look at (i said beautiful, not famous, though you might just run into the notting hill set of jude law and co), yet without any snobbery. Cocktails are great too, and dinner usually comes to around £45 pp with drinks and service - pretty good value!
Great for catching up with friends on a weeknight or weekend and then popping into the cinema!
Electric Brasserie
191 Portobello Road
London W11 2ED
+44 (0)20 7908 9696
http://www.electricbrasserie.com/
New Mayflower
One of the better restaurants in Chinatown. Even better if you understand Chinese and can order from the all-Chinese menu which has lots of special dishes unavailable at other restaurants. Particularly good are the 脆奶香芒帶子 (deep fried crispy custard balls with mango and scallops), 辣汁肉鬆玉子豆腐 (spicy sauce with minced meat and egg beancurd on hot plate) and venison with kailan and ginger. Best to go with at least 4 people so you can order more dishes – Chinese eating is all about sharing. My rule of thumb on how much to order. One dish per person will usually be enough, and will ensure you have a really good meal for about £12-15 pp!
Note: It’s open everyday, but only for dinner from 5pm to 4am. Reservations on weekends essential.
68-70 Shaftesbury Avenue, W1D 6NA
Tel: 020 7734 9207
Busaba Eathai
Average price: £10
One of Alan Yau’s early successes (much cheaper than Hakkasan and Yauatcha and much much better than Wagamama). The tom yam chicken with rice noodle is wonderfully satisfying – chargrilled chicken in a not-too-spicy broth – while other favourites include pandan chicken, pad thai, chargrilled swordfish with lime and chilli and beef panaeng curry.
If you’re on a budget, the green curry fried rice with chargrilled chicken is also quite nice and pretty good for £5.90!
Tip: Try and go to the Store Street branch rather than the one on Wardour Street, simply cos it’s much less crowded. No reservations taken unless for big groups.
22 Store Street, WC1E 7DF
Tel: 020 7299 7900
106-110 Wardour Street, W1F 0TR
Tel: 020 7255 8686
Nyonya
Average price: £10-15
This is pretty authentic Singaporean/Malaysian food, even if not the cheapest. The ambience is much nicer than C&R or the Malaysian Kopi Tiam, with a more urban eatery feel like Busaba (above).
Try the Hokkien Prawn Mee, Char Kway Teow, Penang Laksa or Hainanese Chicken Rice, all around £7 each, and should be enough to fill you up on their own, otherwise the starters too are very good, but not as good value. No reservations necessary.
2a Kensington Park Road, W11 3BU
Tel: 020 7243 1800
Ikkyu
Average price: £10
Another good cheap eat tucked away in a basement next to Benjys (the sandwich shop) on Tottenham Court Road – always packed (only open Mon-Fri!) and with quite a few Japanese regulars. The set menus are extremely good value – around £6 for lunch and £7-8 for dinner with rice, pickles and good-sized portions of either teriyaki salmon, tonkatsu pork, breaded prawns or grilled mackerel etc. Reservations recommended.
67a Tottenham Court Road, W1T 2EY
Tel: 020 7626 9280
Kulu Kulu
Average price: £10
NOT Gili Gulu, which is just nearby. This is much better that Gili Gulu or Yo! Sushi – order a special handroll (with prawn tempura, spicy salmon, avocado and tiny fish roe) and eat like mad. Prices are per plate as in all kaiten (conveyor belt) sushi bars. The most expensive plate is only £3.60 – bargain!
The flagship is at Brewer Street, which is much older (it shows) and much more crowded (the wait there is sometimes 30-45 minutes!). There’s also another in South Kensington on Thurloe Place, which is quite new too. I suggest going to the South Kensington or Shelton Street ones especially when you want to eat out on a Fri/Sat night and haven’t made a booking anywhere else, since I’ve never had to wait for a place at either. No reservations necessary.
51-53 Shelton Street, WC2H 9HE
Tel: 020 7240 5687
Woo Jung
Average price: £12
Order the casserole – there’s quite a few but you really want the one with sake and beef, known to me and my flatmates as no. 66 on the menu.
One small one (£15) is enough to feed 3 people easily if you also order one or two other dishes. Spicy squid, raw beef and rice in stone bowl, and their speciality beef ribs are also extremely satisfying.
59 St Giles High Street, WC2H 8LH
Tel: 020 7836 3103
New Tayyabs
Average price: £10
In the East End where it’s all happening now, Tayyabs has been around forever but still has one of the best lamb chops around at incredibly cheap prices. Previously the place didn’t take reservations, but since it’s been refurbished it now does and I strongly advise to book if you’re headed there on the weekends as it can get manic!
83-89 Fieldgate Street, E1 1JU
Tel: 020 7247 6400
http://www.tayyabs.co.uk/
Daphne
Average price: £15
Taverna-style simple hearty Greek food just a few minutes from Camden tube – this is another great place to come with a big bunch of friends for lots of food and wine and to be as boisterous as possible. Service is very friendly and the waiters are more than happy to explain everything on the menu (in my case several times over because I am so slow-witted).
83 Bayham Street, NW1 0AG
Tel: 020 7267 7322
Pierre Victoire
Average price: £15
Part of a chain, but a cosy little place to get a good-sized steak frites and affordable red wine to wash it all down and pretend you’re at your local café/bistro in Paris. Set dinner done before 7pm is particularly good value (2 courses under £10!) – this is definitely one of the better places to eat at in Soho.
5 Dean Street, W1D 3RQ
Tel: 020 7287 4250 ¶ 4:12 AM 0 comments
crispy pi pa duck served on thousand-layer bread/pancake
This restaurant opened just down the street from where I live about 6 months ago and somehow I never made my way even though I had heard pretty good things about it. Finally went today with 2 friends (one who's been before so he had a pretty good idea of what to order) and have to say - it's pretty good!
Shanghai Blues has drawn a lot of comparisons with hakkasan, and not just because the interior is fairly similar - dark walls, dark wood in a plush china club (hk)-style - but also because there are significant similarities in the menus.
Like hakkasan, Shanghai Blues serves dim sum as well as Chinese cuisine that is different from the standard fare in Chinatown. Besides focusing on perfecting some usual dishes (like the pi pa duck above and shanghainese soup dumplings (xiaolongbao)), the restaurant also has an interesting repertoire of nouvelle Chinese dishes, such as an excellent Fish wrapped in radish pastry (the pastry is similar to that in yam puffs), lo hon zai (vegetarian) cheung fun and green tea pudding (which was actually a Japanese matcha-flavoured pannacotta of sorts).
There's a lot of variety at Shanghai Blues, with something to please everyone, whether you're trying out Chinese as a foreign admirer or whether you're Chinese (like myself) - especially since the menu also has quite a few dishes with very traditionally prestigious (and weirder) ingredients like abalone, shark's fin and the like.
Pricing is slightly cheaper than hakkasan for yum cha (dim sum) but there quite a few special expensive items like the snow crab (which I've been told by friends is ridiculously overpriced at £30+ for a small portion) so care does need to be taken when ordering. Quality was also good on my visit. Since I had friends who had told me what to order beforehand, I thought the food was pretty delicious, and didn't have to deal with any of the misses they apparently had to before. Service is good, and the ambience is quite relaxing and a little less of an IT or "to be seen at" place like hakkasan.
My lunch came up to £60 for 3 persons (including tea and service) - and while not as cheap as my usual yum cha sessions in Chinatown (around £10-12 pp) or in Royal China (around £15 pp), which all serve pretty good even if not particularly inspiring dim sum, nor was I knocked off my chair - I think it's definitely good enough to give hakkasan a run for it's money.
Other notes: Just like hakkasan, you can have whatever's on the dinner menu during lunch time as well but not vice versa. However, almost all my friends who have been here agree that this place is much better for dim sum/yum cha than for dinner, and that hakkasan is definitely better for dinner. I might just try Shanghai Blues again for dinner just to find out!
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Shanghai Blues
193-197 High Holborn
London WC1V 7BD
+44 (0)20 7404 1668
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I was doing my usual rounds at the supermarket thinking of what to cook for friends coming over when I saw poussins and had a sudden craving for zha ji gai (cantonese) or zha4 zi3 ji1 (mandarin). Had ABSOLUTELY NO idea of how to make it but thought it couldn't be that difficult and figured poussins would make nice tender small zha ji gai.
After looking on the internet for recipes, I realised there's a reason why people usually go to the restaurant to eat this rather than make it at home. It's not impossible just a bit troublesome so it's probably only worthwhile making about 5 chickens at once for a big group of people and the thing is if you can buy this takeaway from your local Chinese restaurant, that's really much easier and probably will be yummier. Kinda like the other roast meats like roast duck, goose, or roast pork (siu yok) which is somehow just more delicious from the restaurant (I suspect this is to do with alot of experience, economies of scale and a proper roasting/bicycle pumping (see below) process).
Anyway, having already bought my poussins I thought I'd try it anyway. Was going to buy the hooks to hang them up like they do in restaurant windows but forgot so ended up air drying it in front of a fan.
The chickens need to be coated with tong cou (tang2 cu4) then air dried - and the process has to be repeated several times.
The poussins turned out flavoursome and tender but the skin wasn't crispy enough except for in certain sections (and for those who have not had zha ji gai before the whole point is paper thin crispy skin). I think it's like peking duck - you might actually have to blow the bird up with a bicycle pump to get the skin ultra crispy.
In any case, considering I'm moving to HK, so I'll have no trouble getting good zha ji gai , don't think I'll actually try the bicycle pump thing, but the flavours are pretty good so maybe I'll make it again when I'm really free and fight with my friends again over the really crispy bits.
Here's the recipe (my translation skills are quite basic).
Ingredients:
1 whole young chicken approx. 750 g
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp shaoxing wine (or Chinese rice wine/Japanese sake)
Seasoning 1:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ginger juice
Seasoning 2:
1/2 tsp peppercorns
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp 5-spice powder
Poaching ingredients:
1tsp peppercorns
1 star anise
1/4 dried orange peel
1 piece cinamon bark
1 slice ginger
1 piece tsao-ko
Sugar-vinegar (tong co) marinade mixture:
2 tbsp honey
3 tbsp rice vinegar
3 tbsp chekiang (dark brown Chinese) vinegar
1 tbsp potato flour
1 tbsp water chestnut powder
1 tbsp rice wine
Method:
1. Wash chicken thoroughly and rub Seasoning 1 thoroughly in chicken cavity.
2. Put poaching ingredients in a muslin bag and into a pot with 10 cups of water, bring to boil and simmer for 20 minutes. Add salt, shaoxing wine and the chicken, and simmer until the skin has detached from the meat slightly. Remove chicken from pot and let cool.
3. Mix marinade ingredients and heat slightly till melted. Coat chicken with marinade.
4. Rub Seasoning 2 thorougly in chicken cavity.
5. Hang chicken up in an airy place. Once the chicken is quite dry, put another coat and let dry again. Repeat 3 times and let the chicken dry completely finally.
6. Heat up a wok of oil and deep fry the chicken till golden. Serve whole or chopped up.
For those who want to try this without cooking, New Mayflower on Shaftesbury Ave in Chinatown does a pretty decent version. ¶ 12:29 PM 0 comments
